Children with diabetes 'on the rise'

A growing number of children have been diagnosed with early onset, or Type 1, diabetes over the past 20 years, a new study reveals.

Type 1 diabetes doubled in those under 15 and rose 500 per cent in children under five between 1985 and 2004, according to the University of Bristol's research.

Scientists are not sure of the precise cause of the increase, but they believe it could be linked to environmental factors, such as changes in breastfeeding practices or lack of exposure to infections.

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Professor Polly Bingley said: "The increase is too steep to be put down to genetic factors, so it must be due to changes in our environment.

"This could either mean that we are being exposed to something new, or that we now have reduced exposure to something that was previously controlling our immune responses."

Type 1 diabetes, the less common if the two types of the condition, occurs if the body cannot produce any insulin.

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